Contradicting the post mortem findings in the alleged rape and murder of two cousins who were found hanging from a mango tree at Katra Sadatganj village in Badaun district last week, Uttar Pradesh DGP A L Banerjee said on Saturday that “one of the girls may not have been raped” and “there is a possibility that the case is not how it appears”.

“There is a need to conduct narco analysis and lie detector tests of all those involved in the case. There is a possibility that the accused could be innocent, we have to still conduct more enquires. From our investigations so far, we are suspecting there could be a different motive to the murders, and the crime is of a different nature. I will not use the term honour killing now before I can prove it,” said Banerjee, adding that the girls’ family members as well as the witnesses would be subjected to the tests.

“The girls were strangulated before death. From our investigations and the information available with us so far, it appears that one of the girls may not have been raped,” he said.

The post mortem reports accessed by The Indian Express had said the deaths were caused by “asphyxia due to ante mortem hanging”, meaning that the girls were alive when they were hanged. The reports also said the “perineal findings were suggestive of rape” for both girls, quoting specific genital injuries.

Dr Rajeev Gupta, who headed the panel of doctors who conducted the post mortems, declined to comment.

Banerjee said call detail records (CDRs) and forensic evidence collected from the spot had revealed “new angles” to the case. He said \four empty bottles of beer and a piece of cotton wool with blood on it was recovered from near the spot. The DGP said the people whose CDRs are being analysed include the girls’ relatives and witnesses.

He said there was a possibility that in the case of one victim, who was an only child, a plot to seize the family property could be a motive. “I am not talking about the rape here, but the murder,” he said.

Meanwhile, both the Badaun SSP Atul Saxena and officiating District Magistrate Udairaj have been suspended. On Saturday, a forensic team from Lucknow and Bareilly visited the spot where the girls were found and the house of the accused.

“We always knew the police was biased… They are trying to frame our family to save the accused who are all Yadavs. We will leave the village and go to Delhi to fight for justice,” said the father of one of the victims.